Indiana Jones and the Talisman of the Gods
Chapter 2
The Garden of the Gods
Jones sat cramped inside of a tank as it traveled to Mount Fuji. He was still awestricken by the assignment that General Okidonomi had given him.
The General himself walked over to Jones. "Will you be able to complete that assignment or will you end up like your silly pilot?"
Indiana Jones's eyes flared. "What did you do to Jerry?!"
The Japanese military leader laughed. "He tried to defeat us, an entire group of trained soldiers, with his bare hands. He attacked us," the General smiled, "so we attacked him."
Indiana grimaced at the man. Their guerrilla-like behavior wasn't very welcoming. If Indiana didn't complete the task, the soldiers would gun him down. If he did complete the task, the outcome would most likely be the same. He was basically in a lose-lose situation. There was no hope for him now.
"General, how exactly do you expect me to do that?"
"You will have help. If your father can do it, I'm sure that you can."
Indiana Jones's mouth nearly dropped open. "My… My father?"
"Yes. Wise man. He obeyed our commands and we sent him on his way."
Jones wanted to smack himself in the face. "Why was he in Japan?"
"Oh, no. He didn't come here. We went to him and brought him here. He didn't really complain. It must happen a lot to him." The General smiled. "Have you talked to your dad lately? He's alive. We let him go. If you obey, we'll let you go, too."
The tanks suddenly started going up at a slant. Jones was pushed against the back of the metal monster. They were climbing up Mount Fuji.
"Just remember, Dr. Jones, we take you to Yomi, you go to the shrine, retrieve the object, whatever it may be, and give it to us. Your father only gave us part of the object. That's how we obtained Yuki-onna. If you give us the whole object, then we will let you go a free man. Give us only part and we will send you back.
Jones gulped. Yomi, in Japanese mythology, was the "shadowy land of the dead." He didn't know what the Japanese planned to do with the object, but it couldn't be good. Jones looked at Yuki-onna. She wasn't human. From studying Japanese mythology, Dr. Jones knew that Yuki-onna was a spirit. She had dominion over snow and ice. Why she was with these ruthless soldiers, he did not know.
The tanks came to a halt near the top of Mount Fuji. Dr. Jones and Yuki-onna were escorted out of the tank. They were at a military base on the mountain. Snow as white as rice covered the landscape in front of them. Yuki-onna had a look that could be translated as "Home sweet home."
"Dr. Jones," General Okidonomi said walking towards a table with a map. "We leave tomorrow morning at dawn. You are to be prepared to leave. We are travelling." He smiled a wicked smile. "We are travelling far."
For some reason, Jones didn't feel that reassured. He looked around. The country of Japan was spread out in front of him. He took a deep breathe of the crisp mountain air. "Hey, you don't suppose that there's a place around here where a man can take a leak?" One of the Japanese soldiers gestured in the direction out of sight.
Indiana Jones walked down a well worn trail in the snow, took a right, and began to do his business. Relief… He looked up and saw a bright light. From out of the light came a flower petal carried by the breeze. He zipped up his pants, stepped over the yellow snow, and walked towards the light. The immediate warmth of the light seemed welcoming and the sudden change in location was eminent.
Dr. Jones was in a garden. It was well kept, with flowers of all kinds growing along side a cobblestone pathway. He walked along the path to see ponds full of nishikigoi fish—ornamented and beautifully colored carp—and water lilies. The garden was extraordinary, as if a master expert was tending to it at every second of every day. The rosy sun smiled as it ascended from the horizon, blanketed by the marshmallow clouds of pink and yellow as it went. It was dawn. There was twilight.
Jones looked around. Rolling hills went on for miles and the pathway continued to contort itself throughout the garden. He followed the path, small beige and brown stones crunching beneath his feet. He came to a place where the winds picked up. Petals flew from their flowers and danced alongside Dr. Jones's path. The whole scene seemed to be mystified.
The bright light radiated from an object sitting on a stone. The blinding light made it impossible to see what the source was, but it must've been powerful, whatever it was. Jones reached out to grab the object when the sky above turned gray and lightning struck down. A voice echoed from the distance, perhaps from over the hills.
"Indiana Jones…"
He turned. No one was there, but the voice seemed so close, and yet so far at the same time. Something was weird about this place. It shouldn't have been on Mount Fuji. There was something about this. Something odd…
He reached out to touch the unseen object when the sky changed colors again and lightning boomed. The same voice echoed in the distance.
"Don't do it, Indiana…"
The voice was warning him. He pulled back his hand. The familiar twilight lit up the sky and he walked back along the cobblestone path. What was this place? Did it have a meaning, a purpose? Was this a warning?
A hand touched his shoulder. He jumped and reached for his gun, but realized that it had been confiscated by the soldiers. There was a tall Japanese man next to him. He was smiling.
"You have been summoned for something." The man's voice was echoic and booming.
"Yes, retrieve the object in Yomi. This isn't the first time I've been kidnapped." Jones scratched the side of his chin. "What is this place?"
"You are in the Garden of the Gods, one of many places where the spare gods reside. I don't think that you can see it with your mortal vision, but over the hills there is a mountain with a palace for the Greek deities."
"Mount Olympus?"
"Yes! That's the name."
"And who are you?"
The man smiled. "I am Izanagi, chief Japanese god."
Jones was awestricken. "And you live in this Garden?"
"All of the Japanese deities live in the Garden. Other gods from other religions reside in other places."
They were nearing the end of they're walk. Jones almost had his breath knocked out when he realized who the man was. Izanagi was indeed the chief Japanese god. He and his wife, Izanami, bore many deities together.
"Izanagi, why am I here? What was that thing?"
The man patted him on the shoulder. They were at the portal. "That, my friend, is the object in which the Japanese want you to find." The god looked him straight in the eyes. "Whatever you do, don't get the object, and most certainly don't give it to General Okidonomi. The world will perish if that happens."
Jones was sucked through the portal. His face went pale as he was shot out and fell onto the snow. He looked up to see fifteen Japanese soldiers with machine guns aimed at his face.
General Okidonomi stepped out from behind them. "Ah, Dr. Jones, did you think that you could run from us?"
"What? I was taking a leak. I was gone for five minutes tops!"
"More or less five hours. You tried to escape." He gave a wicked smile. "Ronin Inokuma!" A skinny little soldier stepped out. "Escort Dr. Jones to the makeshift jail. He'll be spending the night with Mr. Shimizu tonight." General Okidonomi laughed as Ronin Inokuma put his hands in cuffs and walked him over to what looked like big black box next to camp.